The Doll Podcast
All the latest news and views from the world of dolls.
The Doll Podcast
Robert Tonner Introduces Hollywood Sensation Lacie Churchill
Robert Tonner’s fashion doll Lacie Churchill is a movie studio executive who is always red carpet ready. When she is not green lighting Oscar worthy projects at Hollywood’s Momax studios Lacie is outperforming fellow film moguls in the boardroom.
American Sculptor, fashion designer and entrepreneur Robert Tonner has created many exciting dolls during his over 30 year career. Robert launched The Tonner Doll Company in 1991, which became famous for producing fashion dolls, pop culture figures, and collectibles that combined exquisite craftsmanship with artistic design.
Welcome to the Doll Podcast. I'm your host, Louisa Maxwell. American sculptor, fashion designer and entrepreneur, Robert Tonner has created many exciting dolls during his over 30-year career. Robert launched the Tonner Doll Company in 1991, which became famous for producing fashion dolls, pop culture figures and collectibles that combined exquisite craftsmanship with artistic design. Robert Tonner, welcome to the Doll Podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's great to be here.
Speaker 1:Well, it's wonderful to meet you again and I'm very excited to hear about your fashion doll, lacey Churchill.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great, I'm excited about talking about her.
Speaker 1:Lacey Churchill's new collection has just been launched. It comprises three 16-inch fashion dolls. One is a basic wig doll in lingerie and two dolls wearing couture looks. Robert, your fashion doll characters always have a rich backstory, and I think that's one of the elements that makes them fun to dress and play with. Lacey Churchill is a CEO at an international movie studio. How do these three dolls represent her style? Good?
Speaker 2:question yes, Lacey is the brand new CEO of MoMAX Studios and the one character, the one in her basic underwear. You know she's getting ready for work, but this is her at home and she's ready to dress for the day. The other two, one's a cocktail dress and one's a gown doll and these represent, you know, like a cocktail meeting she has to take after work, but also there's going to be a lot of red carpet events and one of the dress dolls is a gold gown and that represents this. She's got a new movie to go see. It's a premiere, so she's on the red carpet. So there's a lot of opportunities in this backstory to have Lacey go to all kinds of wonderful places wearing all kinds of wonderful clothes.
Speaker 1:Why did you decide to make her the head of a movie studio? I mean, as you said, it's such a great fashion moment, but what made you pick that career for her?
Speaker 2:fashion moment. But what made you pick that career for her? Well, you know, in a way it kind of goes back to the original thought about Tyler Wentworth when I did her way back in 99, I think it was. And it was like, you know, she could be a fashion model or she could be, but you know, women had evolved way beyond that. So Tyler was, she's, a fashion designer, she's designing the clothes for these models and I thought Lacey doesn't need to be an actress going to all these red carpet events. She's going to be determining who goes to the red carpet events and she just happens to go along with them. So of course she's going to have actress friends or whatever. But I love her as running the whole thing and she runs it. It's kind of like she gets thrown into it because of a big scandal at Momax Studios, so I love that part of it. There's always got to be some drama.
Speaker 1:So what's the drama at Momax?
Speaker 2:Well, she's got a boss and her name is January March, and January has got caught in a relationship scandal with somebody who works at the company. However, it turns out that the guy who works at the company was also a fraudulent sort of. He was in it for the money and he basically excuse the expressions screwed Momax out of a lot of money. So the board kicked January off the board and they needed somebody to fill in for her, at least temporarily, until they got everything settled, you know legally and everything. So that's where Lacey comes in. She's the fill-in for January in. She's the fill-in for January.
Speaker 1:How does Lacey manage, then, to become the head of the studio? Does she do such a great job, or does she find a hit movie? What's the magic ingredient that gives her that wonderful step up?
Speaker 2:in her career. That was kind of an interesting thing working through the storyline. So Lacey's been at MomaxX for three years and she has an incredible track record. So she's gone up through the ranks very quickly to where she's, like, the number one assistant to January March Miss March and they needed a woman to take over because the board it's a woman-run movie studio and they can't put a man in that position or else the press would eat them alive. So they take this person who is not probably quite as experienced, but they jam her into this position.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's going to be a big challenge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the fun part of it Throw more and more stuff at her.
Speaker 1:Ah, so I see You're just giving us a taster and then the drama will evolve.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I love the rich backstories and drama that surround your dolls, for example, your character, ellen Wilde. There is a really evolving story that has just kept getting better and better, so I think there's the same potential with Lacey Churchill, isn't there?
Speaker 2:I think so. One of her good friends is an actress, because they're good friends. She's coming out with her first movie and she'll be a doll character, hopefully before too long. So I'm excited about all that.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic, because when the dolls have a strong storyline, like with Tyler Wentworth, it just, it energizes you as a collector, whether you're just dressing it and posing it, or whether you decide to sew some fashions, you know, whatever way you're inspired. You know it's quite a while ago since I got my first Tyler Wentworth, but I still appreciate the garments for the whole couture that they are and this influence of her as a designer. It's just. It really gives the whole thing so much meaning.
Speaker 2:I think it gives a collector a jumping off spot.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Instead of just. Here's another doll to put. In my case, you know, I've always believed that collectors, you know, should doll collectors especially, should, you know, engage with their collections and make the collections their own. And I think that by having a base storyline that you can add to is a good way to do it, and I think that with Elowen and with Lacey that's you know, I think that they've got a really strong backstory.
Speaker 1:They really do. The Lacey face sculpt has been used before for limited editions. How has her look evolved for this new series?
Speaker 2:Well, actually I came out with the idea of this character, you know, about three years ago maybe it's been that long and I originally introduced her with a different head sculpt, and a good friend of mine she said that I was kind of proud of it because I thought, I mean, I think it's a pretty head. I really do, I like it, it is.
Speaker 1:It's one of the ones I love really do.
Speaker 2:I like it, it is. It's one of the ones I love. Oh, thank you, but I liked it because it was different for me and I intentionally went into it. I'm going to make this one look not like my normal, you know. So I have this friend and she says that just doesn't, she couldn't, she couldn't relate to the sculpt, and she says this just doesn't look like your work, which kind of blew me away.
Speaker 2:That's what I was going for on one hand, but on the other hand, you know, I have an identity of design I hope that I think collectors respond to. So I rethought Lacey and I thought I'm going to try to do Lacey as I see her in my head and redo it. And so I re-sculpted the head. So I've only used this head for four dolls. One was a limited edition I did for United Federation of Doll Clubs this past summer, and then the three dolls that are through Cherished Friends. So there's only four dolls out there.
Speaker 1:I first saw the Lacey head sculpt in the original version and I liked it very much. It's a very strong look and I loved it and terrific costume. And then I saw it again for the UFDC and I was like, oh and. So, as a collector and as someone who loves your dolls, I was really delighted when I'm able to get this from Cherished Friends because she's a wonderful doll. So the three different dolls have great looks. First of all, you have the wigged doll and she just comes in lingerie. She has a well, it's like a warm brown wig in the photograph.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's kind of a light brown.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and she just has beautiful makeup. It's a little bit of a neutral makeup, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like it's like a day, wear makeup. The other two editions of Lacey Churchill wear gorgeous evening looks. The first is Lacey in gold statement. The name aptly describes her floor length gold gown Perfect for the Oscars. The second evening look is stargazing a cerise cocktail dress with statement sleeves. For evening, Lacey chooses to wear her brunette hair in a sophisticated updo. Evening makeup calls for high drama. Lacey chooses smoky eyes and bold lips to complement both dresses, but her hair is amazing. It is such a contemporary updo I mean you'd expect to see it on one of the really famous models that you're looking at in vogue now.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you, but you'll see, though, by this grouping I ordinarily wouldn't do two brunette updos in one release, so there are a couple of missing dolls here that didn't get the full way through development. So she's been a project I've been working on for a while, but it's taken a while to get her out with the new head sculpt and all this kind of stuff. So I love these three dolls, but ordinarily I would have had a redhead in, and you know.
Speaker 1:Blonde.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and a blonde. Yeah, we got to have a blonde too. We got to have a blonde.
Speaker 1:Although, if you get the one with the wigs, I have all my old Tyler wigs. Absolutely, absolutely you see if you've invested in this. Folks Right, you have stuff at home, so I'm looking forward to the wig doll arriving and trying lots of different looks. Lacey uses the new RTB-102 body. How is this different from the RTB-101 body which you used for fashion dolls Grace, wonder Woman or Outlander's Claire Frazier dolls that you did?
Speaker 2:The 101 body has. It's a more natural body. I actually sculpted that body from a live model. I took a live model scan and adjusted it. I wanted a realistic body so I adjusted it. You know you have to. I made the legs longer and all this kind of stuff and smoothed out the body of course. But I started I wanted a very realistic body but with the 102 body, although she has the same hips, legs, arms and all that, I changed her torso to nip in the waist a little bit. She has a slightly thinner neck and a little bit fuller bust, just a little bit. And I did that to be able to bring the waist of garments in a little bit more. So you know, I kind of I love the natural body but and it worked great with the Ryan Roche dolls that I did and all that but and it worked great with Wonder Woman. But I wanted a little bit more pinched in waist and a more perky bust.
Speaker 1:Well, I suppose, if she's going to wear a lot of evening fashions and very full skirts. I mean even if we go back to 19th century French fashion dolls, they deliberately had tinier waists to deal with all the fabric and this is always we're always adapting dolls to make the fashions fall well and look realistic and look beautiful.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:So can Lacey wear the wardrobes of dolls with the RTB 101 body like Grace.
Speaker 2:Some she can. It's the hip issue. She has a little bigger hip and rear end than my other bodies, like the Tyler body or whatever. So on the top, to the waist? Yes, she can, but you have to check the skirts and the. You know a full skirt, no problem, but skirts and pants you'd have to check on an individual basis.
Speaker 1:So she's slightly slimmer or more curvaceous than Grace.
Speaker 2:It's weird she's slightly smaller on the top but slightly bigger on the bottom.
Speaker 1:Oh, I see, but her waist comes in more, but then I suppose that proportions out the smaller waist.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:It gives a kind of a Dior new look to the whole thing, even though she's a very contemporary doll.
Speaker 2:I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, why not? So you know when I'm thinking about that particular body sculpt that you use for Grace and that you've now revised for Lacey, I'm hoping that I have some beautiful fashions for Grace and I'm hoping that they will work on Lacey too. Grace has this really great style and Rachel Hoffman at the Virtual Doll Convention. She experiments so much. She has vintage clothes for Grace. She has very classic fitted things that have a kind of a royal couture signature. She just goes and just has such a flight of fancy and fashion imagination with that doll. So what do you think Lacey would adapt from Grace's wardrobe?
Speaker 2:Well, right now she has to get what she can get because she has none of her own clothes. But we're going to remedy that. She will have. You know, we are working on a wardrobe and other outfits for her. But yeah, Grace is very generous, she's very supportive of Lacey and she's happy to share her clothes.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's going to be really lovely. When I think about the beautiful doll stargazing. It's the one that wears the pink dress and she has the most amazing shoes In the picture. They're pink suede and they have these tiny bow decorations but trying to describe them here but they really look like something Carrie Bradshaw would wear. I mean, they're beautiful.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Yeah, they are suede-esque and with a little satin ball. So yeah, those are fun. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1:And I love it because they're so modern. They're so just ready to step out and go somewhere fabulous.
Speaker 2:I hope so.
Speaker 1:Definitely yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's got a lot of work to do and she's got to have all those meetings, so yes, and she's got all those stars and, ooh, does she have a special friend. No, she's been too busy, but I'm sure that will come up soon.
Speaker 1:That could be really fun. So is Lacey, a limited edition doll.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean each style will be. I mean the character is not. I hope she's going to be around for a long time, but you know each outfit incarnation will be limited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the bold statement that's the brunette doll with the beautiful gold dress perfect for the Academy Awards. According to my information here, that's an addition of 150.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And then the basic doll.
Speaker 2:The basic doll may be. You know I may go on with her. I know we have a couple more variations on that basic coming out, so we probably won't do numbers on that. The other one I believe is 152. The stargazing is also 150.
Speaker 1:That's the one with the beautiful pink shoes. All of them have beautiful accessories. We're going to have loads of pictures on wwwdollpodcastcom, or, of course, you go straight to cherishfriendscom and you can see the dolls.
Speaker 2:Or my Instagram site. Yes, Tonner Robert at Instagram.
Speaker 1:Tonner. Robert at Instagram is perfect, I have to say, robert. That's where I found out about all this and I was so excited because I saw these dolls at the UFDC and, of course, being in Europe, I missed out on it and I was on the secondary websites trying to find one. And then, when I saw that, I was just like and I've just moved house. And when you move house, I tell everyone I have a hundred dolls. But that's a lie. And you've packed and unpacked all these dolls and you say to yourself I'm not going to buy any more dolls, I'm not going to buy any more dolls. And then your Instagram pops up I'll just buy one more dolls. I'm not going to buy any more dolls. And then your Instagram pops up I'll just buy one more doll. Oh, rachel's got clothes, maybe I'll order those. Oh, I'm off again. There's nothing I can do about it.
Speaker 2:It's well worth it.
Speaker 1:We've had such a wonderful conversation about Lacey. I'd love to know what's happening with Elowen and Nima. They're just looking so beautiful, all the dolls you've produced. Are we looking forward to new dolls coming out, without giving away any secrets?
Speaker 2:Yeah, rachel actually has one coming out at the end of October which I'm very excited about. There's a group of Elowen and Nima coming out at that time I think four dolls. But then for early next year and into next year I have this theme grouping and I love this group. It's something I kind of stumbled on and I'm being very vague about it because I don't want to spill the beans?
Speaker 1:No, don't. Yes, but it's lovely to hear.
Speaker 2:I am so excited about this. So, yes, we are definitely going on with that. And because I have such great retailers that work with me, I mean we have to work in a different way than we did when Tonner Doll Company was in business. You know, I ship all the product to one store, so the one store has. You know it's a lot of work for a retailer, but I have such between Rachel and Virtual Dog Convention and Cherish Friends. I have a great, great group of retailers. However, that means I have to feed them, they have to have dogs, so it's keeping me busy, which I'm kind of, you know. I thought I was going to be semi-retired, but I can't do it. It's too boring.
Speaker 1:You can't, I mean you have to have something that just inspires you. And looking at these dolls, looking at the fashions, I just see the inspiration just glowing from them. Inspiration just glowing from them and I just feel this energy in your designs. That's just really marvelous and I can't say better than ever, because that seems so unfair to all the other dolls who I love so much.
Speaker 1:So how could you stop? Of course, now I believe you don't have to sculpt every head individually. You can sculpt them through your computer. Does that give you more freedom?
Speaker 2:It does in a way, because this way I always struggled with having a doll family look like they came from the same parents. You know, it's like they have to have a similar look. And you do that by head size and feature proportion Different features but different proportion and I could do that easier with a computer, much easier with a computer, and I love that. And I love to be able to print out a head and see what it's going to look like before we spend the money for production and all that. So I've been very, very happy with how that's worked.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing. So technology really is your friend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was born way too early.
Speaker 1:I'd be all over this AI stuff, so well, in many respects, I think we're going to be part of that future too. I mean that's that seems to be the way you're planning it.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I hope so, I hope so.
Speaker 1:Definitely I think so. Do you think AI ever will be involved with dolls? Is there a way? I know you did a virtual character with your beautiful model doll?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know, I think it's great for brainstorming. I mean, I could do this now. I could say, you know, I could go into like something like Midjourney. It's a visual AI, so you give it a prompt and it spits out a picture of what you've prompted. So I could say I'd like, what would a doll look like if it was this and this and this? And then I get a picture back for inspiration and I could use that as a jumping off place to sculpt something. I believe that it's not going to be too long before I'll say I want something that looks like da-da-da-da-da. Pick the picture, and then there'll be a program that will be able to do a sculpt of it.
Speaker 1:That is amazing. So that's going to change.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think it's that far away. I think I mean that's going to change. That means that anybody who has a doll in them will be able to get it out, and I think that's kind of a wonderful thing. You know, even if it's for yourself or if it's to manufacture, that's kind of, you know, it's a wonderful thing. So you don't have to rely on my dolls although I hope you do, but you don't have to rely on my dolls. Maybe someday you'll be able to do that one doll that would be perfect for you, that you have in your head.
Speaker 1:Well, the doll that would be perfect for me right now is Lacey Churchill.
Speaker 2:I can't wait until she gets here.
Speaker 1:No, really, really. I've wanted that doll for a while and I'm very excited about it and she's just beautiful. And with all your dolls, I always find they're so easy to pose, they're so easy to dress. If you decide to sew for them, you can sew for them, and especially the wig dolls, you can change their personality. But I love this idea that she's a strong woman, a movie executive, somebody who has a lot of ups and downs and creative moments and business moments and hopefully some personal drama, because that's always fun.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, meanwhile gets to raid the closet at the costume department and go out in a fantastic outfit, an Oscar ceremony or something like this. And you know, and you see, that's the little movie that goes into our heads when we play with your dolls.
Speaker 2:And that's exactly what I want. That's exactly how I would hope that somebody would interact with dolls.
Speaker 1:Robert, your company slogan was all about the power of play.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You still keep giving us the joy of the power of play with these amazing dolls.
Speaker 2:What a nice thing to say. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Oh well, it's so true, robert Tonner. Thank you so much for joining us on the Doll Podcast. We can get Lacey from Cherished Friends. That's cherishedfriendscom. Grace, elowen and Nima are from Rachel Hoffman at the Virtual Doll Convention and she's always got an event. You can find her on Facebook, instagram, everywhere. Robert, tell us your Instagram again.
Speaker 2:It's honorrobert at Instagram.
Speaker 1:Finally, there's something really great to look at on Instagram. Thank you, robert, thank you, sure.
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Take care, it's a yeah, thank you, robert. Thank you, sure, my pleasure.
Speaker 1:Take care. It's a joy. Thank you, Robert.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 1:The Doll Podcast is created by Niche Media Productions. Our music is by Celtic Conspiracy. Copyright Louisa Maxwell 2024. All rights reserved. To find out more about the Doll Podcast, go to our website on wwwdollpodcastcom. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram as the Doll Podcast. We look forward to welcoming you next time.